Takahashi: Apple Keeps Moving Forward, Microsoft Backward

The new MacBook Air emphasizes the important fact that Apple keeps moving forward.
However, Microsoft took a step backward with Vista, according to Dean Takahashi at the Mercury News on Monday.

Mr. Takahashi hasnit been a consistent Mac user. Heis a game player, and that required him to use PCs for decades. Neither has he been "smitten by Steve Jobsi famous reality distortion field."

However, looking at the MacBook Air made the author realize something. "Slowly Apple has been chipping away at Microsoftis advantages," Mr. Takahashi wrote. "Appleis success with the iPod and the iPhone have turned the worldis attention to the fact that Appleis products have superior design and more cachet than anything in the PC world. Check out the MacBook Air, a two-pound laptop that is three-quarters of an inch thick, and youill see what I mean. [He meant to say "three" pounds.]

In addition, there are hidden costs to Windows. "You wonit get built-in Webcams on the cheapest PCs. The iLife i08 photo and editing software comes free with an iMac and it is far more intuitive than Vistais built-in photo gallery. If you buy a fully loaded Windows Vista Ultimate operating system, it costs at least $200, while the Mac OS is $125," the author wrote.

Pointing out that Microsoft took more than five years to ship Vista, and contrasting Vista to Appleis faster innovation with Mac OS X, he warned, "Before Microsoft turns all of its attention to Yahoo, it had better make sure its bread-and-butter business is up to snuff. Otherwise, a lot more people will be shifting to Macs."